Mad as a Hatter
by little turtle
Summary: Hatter Madigan is infected with a disease from the other side of the Pool of Tears. He gives this disease to Alyss Heart unintentionally, and the new Queen of Wonderland is driven mad by it. Will have AlyssDodge.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or any of the characters in it. I do not own The Looking Glass Wars either, which this fic is based on. All of the characters in this fic belong to Frank Beddor except the ones I created.

Rating: M, just to be safe. i have no idea how dirty this may get.

Summary: Hatter Madigan is infected with a disease from the other side of the Pool of Tears. He gives this disease to Alyss Heart unintentionally, and the new Queen of Wonderland is driven mad by it. Will have Alyss/Dodge fluff.

Timeline: A year after the book Looking Glass Wars finishes off

The air was cold in the graveyard, but not quite as cold as a certain Wonderlandian's heart. Former Milinery man, Alyssian, and protector of the previous Queen, Hatter Madigan wept.

"As we gather here today for a sad, sad reason, for Meryat Madigan, who has passed on, as many others have during the Redd Years. Long live Queen Alyss. She was beloved wife, friend, and dutiful citizen, as many we are mourning today were," the minister paused, letting his words sink in. "She lived a full life, until she was sent to the Crystal Mines and suffered a heart attack. Let us have a minute of silence to respect her death."

All was quiet, the two friends, the vendor who stopped by, the minister, and a few unknowns... All except Hatter's wracked sobs, mourning his soulmate, his wife. Soon, they all left, one by one, murmuring condolences and bowing out in respect for the dead.

Hatter was left all alone, in the dark, to cry without shame. He was unaware of all except that his wife was gone…

"My beloved..." he choked out, sobbing silently. "How I miss you so. Now I have no one for comfort, for anchor, for sanity... hee hee…" The sobs soon turned into maniacal laughter that filled the night air.

"Oh how I hate you so, Meryat. You kept me from my real love, the Queen," He sighed, talking to the gravestone. "You hated her, didn't you? Yes, you certainly did. My devotion to her drove you crazy... Crazy? I remember being locked in a chamber for days, maybe months, just to find that my own spouse had locked me inside. You didn't seem to care that I went deprived of food, of drink, of..." he paused, eyes wild from his thoughts. "Of her!"

After that, he seemed to speak gibberish, pointing at the gravestone, yelling nonsensical words, even in Wonderland terms. As the minutes passed, he became more and more agitated, blowing rasberries and making childish gestures at the grave. He spat on the ground, and then stomped on the spot repeatedly, yelling, "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!..."

Then Hatter seemed to come back to himself, regaining the composure of a Milinery leader. He silently walked away at that point, not looking back upon his wife's grave on which he'd made a mockery of himself.

Apologizing for the shortness of the chapter. But it is my first fic and you all must forgive me for it. Don't worry, the fluff is on its way. Just making sure there's actually a plot to the fic. Reviews would be appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

_"Will you be my king, Dodge?"_

He kept hearing her again and again in his head. Why was he thinking of her again? She was the Queen now. The Queen. His mind tried to accept that as truth, but all he kept hearing in his head was, "Will you be my king, my king, my king..." It kept echoing in his brain, driving him crazy. Surely Alyss didn't remember that small little detail of the terrible day that took her parents' lives?

It was wrong for him to think this way. She was the Queen, and she would never remember him as the brave little naive boy she had loved. That boy was dead. From the ashes had risen Dodge Anders, selfless renegade mad for revenge.

The Cat...

He felt a surge of raw anger rise inside as he remembered his failure. His failure to avenge his father's death, his failure to finish off the Cat. That stupid, worthless piece of feline shit had escaped at the last minute, leaving Dodge a tortured soul, never able to go back to the gentle boy he once had been. He was dead inside.

He sighed heavily, sitting in a chair by the window as he tried to control the demon inside. He couldn't let the Queen know that he was still harboring Black Imagination. She'd been keeping him under close watch ever since the Great Battle with Redd, and she could see him in her Imagination's Eye at any given moment if she liked. He calmly took a Wondercrumpet from his bedside table and bit into the pastry, savoring its sweetness. It did not take the bitter taste of failure out of his mouth. Still, he took another bite, hoping that the Queen would be satisfied with his behavior and would stop surveying him like a criminal.

As Bibwit Harte, royal tutor and top advisor of the throne, approached the Issa Room's great doors, his large and sensitive ears picked up a strange noise. They penetrated the thick Wonderland metal and heard something that was definitely not reading. He had set the young Queen to read the _Queendom Spearamus_ early in the morning, as it had to be read if she were to rule properly. The last year had been spent solely on rebuilding Wondertropolis, brick by brick, and she had not had much time to focus on her newly found power as Queen.

There it was again. A girlish giggle escaped the doors and into Bibwit's ears. To his knowledge, which was wide and far, the _Queendom Spearamus_ did not contain any humorous content. And he had read the book several hundred times over.

The albino scholar knocked on the enormous doors, and waited for a response. Nothing. Nothing but more faint giggles.

"Your highness," he coughed. He hoped it would be enough to alert the Queen that an intrusion from him was inevitable.

Suddenly, it was silent. He heard no more of the giggles and took it as assent to enter. He pushed the heavy doors in, and half expected her highness to be elsewhere, that the giggles had belonged to a scullery maid who was indulging herself with the Queen's room to do God-knows-what. Instead, what he found was a perfectly still Alyss Heart, Queen of Wonderland, at a small table reading intently. She had half-moon spectacles on, and looked genuinely surprised.

"Why, Bibwit, what brings you to my doors? Something wrong?" she inquired, a worry crease on her forehead.

"No, my Queen. Nothing's wrong. I was going to remind you..." he trailed off, still trying to solve the mystery of the giggle. There seemed nothing amiss within the room, yet he felt that something had happened in here while he was patiently knocking the door.

"Remind me what, Bibwit? You know, if it's something that can wait, then I'd like to get back to studying the book," she said, shifting in her seat and moving her gaze back to the large book on the table.

He wasn't sure if he should continue, or inquire about the strange occurrence of giggling. He had to stop himself from thinking aloud, for it was a habit of his, since no other Wonderlander could reach his level of wisdom and knowledge. He decided with continuing, and spoke in a clipped tone.

"I was going to remind you about the festivities taking place in seven days," he paused. "Your birthday celebrations? The Royal Funeral and the Inventors Parade as well, of course, but most importantly your birthday, my Queen. I speak for all of wonderland when I say we would very much like to present you with a gift to your liking, something very special, something that you might want? We are aware of your Imaginative skills, but for once, we'd like to do something for you," he finished, rather proud of the small speech.

There was a beat.

"Your Highness? Alyss? Could you stop reading a moment and listen for a moment, my Queen?" he asked patiently. "This is rather important, you know."

"Wha-? Oh, right. Umm, Bibwit, you can leave those papers on my table. I'll make sure to read them carefully, once I finish Queendom Spearamus." She sighed, seeing Bibwit's deflated expression, "I'm sorry Bibwit. I'll get to them as soon as I can. I just really want to finish this."

Satisfied enough with her reaction, the royal tutor placed the papers on the table, coughed, bowed, and left, muttering, "Of course, my Queen."

As soon as the enormous doors closed once again, Alyss let out a deep sigh. Bibwit had a keen sense of hearing, and she'd forgotten that. He'd almost caught on what she had been doing, and because of that she would have to tread lightly from now on, even in her own rooms. There was just too many people about during the day. She smiled, cheeks flushing again as the glamour she Imagined for herself was fading away. Under it, she hadn't been wearing much, except her shift and one silk sock. She flushed deeper still, thinking about what would've happened if she hadn't heard Bibwit early enough. She shook her head. She would just have Imagined his mind to go blank for a minute or two while she called on a glamour. Yes, definitely a good glamour.

She called about the Imagined Dodge to her room again, and grinned wickedly. She looked at the copy, ignoring the Imagination pixels that were now clear to her eye. She stared at the slight bulge in his pants, and licked her lips.

"Wanna go again?"

I told you there'd be fluff. Sorry to leave it at a cliffhanger, but then, I haven't had any reviews. Tell me what you think, it feeds my muse! There's more action to come, though i'm not sure what this site is going to allow.. I introduced the main characters now, and what they are like, a year after the Looking Glass Wars ended. Their behaviors and feelings will be vital to the story, so tell me what you think, whether they seem real enough, or not. Then, my muse'll be waiting, hungrily of course.


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